


people in general

by Mars_and_Moon



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben Hargreeves is Alive, Don't Read This, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Non-Binary Klaus Hargreeves, Self-Indulgent, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, luther is not a dick. because i say so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-05 23:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18376082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_and_Moon/pseuds/Mars_and_Moon
Summary: Asking for a switch of vocabulary is hard. Klaus could tell you that first hand.





	people in general

**Author's Note:**

> back on it with my projection 
> 
> enjoy

It wasn't a big deal. Really, it wasn't a big deal. So what if none of Klaus’s siblings used their proper pronouns? It's not like this is a new concept to them. People are shitty, and a one-night stand didn't care about pronouns. 

So it was fine. It was completely dandy listen to Diego go on about how Klaus was a good  _ brother _ . A good  _ man.  _ That  _ he  _ should be allowed to talk about  _ his  _ thoughts and  _ his  _ feelings during family meetings. 

At least Diego was acknowledging Klaus’s existence, instead of ignoring every breath they took, or writing them off as crazy. So it was fine if he didn't use the proper pronouns, because it could be worse.

 

When Luther said they should have a  _ brotherly  _ bonding session without the girls, he invited Klaus along. They didn't understand why it needed to just the the  _ guys _ , but when they brought it up Luther said that it had actually been Allison and Vanya’s idea. That the Hargreeves  _ brothers  _ should bond some more. They could have their family game night on Friday. 

At least Luther had included them, had called them family, called them a  _ brother _ , instead of a disappointment. It was the thought that counted, that Luther considered them family. It didn't matter that he had called them  _ he  _ all night. It was the thought.

 

Allison had never questioned when they asked to borrow a skirt, or nail polish, or anything feminine. She handed it over and said if  _ he  _ broke it, she would stop giving  _ him  _ stuff. 

She never raised an eyebrow when Klaus would add some sparkly shirt into the pile of clothes she insisted all of the residents in household needed, because none of them had ever shopped properly. When someone asked, she said that her  _ brother  _ didn't give a shit about how  _ he _ got perceived. 

Klaus sort of wanted to correct her. Say that it mattered to them what they were called. But it wasn't that bad, they could push through it. Allison bought them clothes, taught them how makeup worked, found heels in their size. Laughing about how her  _ brother  _ looked better then she did. It was fine. Because she loved them, she loved them and showed it and never said anything bad about the clothes. It was fine.

 

When Five asked Klaus if  _ he  _ ever got hit with a sudden remembrance of what  _ he  _ felt like after time traveling. Klaus didn't care about pronouns, because Five was being civil and asking them about trauma. No need to correct pronouns during a deep conversation. It would ruin the moment.

Klaus nodded and explained the cotton in their head, the itch that never fully left, one that was almost as deep-seated in their bones as Dave. 

Five asked if the conversation could stay between them,  _ brother to brother. _ Klaus nodded and smiled. Because Five had confided in them of all people. It was great. It was cool. Maybe it would have felt better with proper pronouns, but Klaus digressed, because Five chose them to confide in. It was great. 

 

Vanya apologized to them all the time. About the book. About the apocalypse. No matter how many times Klaus swore they didn't care, she still sat in front of them, almost crying. 

She said sorry for saying  _ he  _ never payed attention to the rest of the family. How she was sorry she never talked about how much she admired  _ him _ for having the confidence to be  _ himself _ , to tell Reginald to fuck off. 

After she apologized she would sit there and Klaus would apologize to her. For the drugs, and the stealing, and the lying. On the tip of their tongue would always be asking for a simple change in vocabulary, a switch from  _ he  _ to they. 

But it was fine, because Vanya was their sister. Actually their sister this time, so what if she called them the bravest  _ brother _ . The  _ brother  _ who was full of confidence. It felt wonderful, being praised like that, as a good  _ guy.   _

 

Ben had died asking for Klaus, for his  _ brother  _ to tell him joke, let him laugh one last time. Klaus had told him the world’s worst joke. Something about a fisherman and his wife, one of them had a fiddle or something, they didn’t remember the full details. But Ben had laughed, laughed so hard that Klaus had managed to crack a smile. 

Ben followed them around everywhere after he died. Klaus was pretty sure it was out of spite, so he could call them out for being an idiot. But once, while watching Klaus explain to some girl in a club about their pronouns, Ben would ask if Klaus wanted to talk about something at a later time. 

Klaus was high as fuck during the conversation, but they think they cried. Cried when they explained that they weren’t a  _ boy _ , they weren’t a  _ girl  _ either, they were just, Klaus. 

Ben still yelled at them, called them an idiot, said that they could actually mention pronouns, stop doing drugs, the whole shabam. Klaus still blocked him out.   
  


When Ben was back, he always called Klaus his favorite sibling. Never  _ brother _ , he called them an idiot on the daily, still watched them like a hawk, because dead or alive Ben would punch them for putting anything into their body that wasn’t Therapist Approved, but Ben always ask if  _ they _ wanted to get waffles with him and Vanya. 

Everyone began noticing the small shift in vocabulary. How Ben always defended Klaus, saying that  _ they  _ deserved better. 

Klaus noticed it more then anyone though. How Diego was the quickest to pick it up, how whenever anyone asked who Klaus was, Diego would it explain that they were his annoying sibling who never left. 

They noticed that there weren’t any Hargreeves  _ brothers  _ nights. The rest of them agreed that it was too much work, they had family game night. Noticed that  Luther would stumble over asking about Klaus, trying his best to say the right thing.

Allison let them borrow her makeup, her skirts. But every now and then Klaus would find a small bundle of clothes, with a magazine or book shoved into it, talking about gender fluidity, preferred pronouns, a ticket for some stupid talk that Klaus had gone to anyway because who were they to turn down a night out. 

Five had just bluntly stated that he never once hated Klaus because of pronouns or who they slept with. He hated them because they were an idiot. And an asshole. But he still came up to them every now and again to sit in silence, watching Klaus knitting a disaster of a scarf. 

Vanya still apologized. For the book. For the apocalypse. For never asking if Klaus wanted to be her  _ brother _ or if they wanted to be something else. Klaus still sits there, telling her to stop saying sorry, to go pick up a violin or a joint or something.  

It wasn’t a big deal. For their siblings to use the correct pronouns. But Klaus found themself one night sitting in their bed, having a few tears in their eyes. But nobody else needed to know that, because it wasn’t a big deal. 

**Author's Note:**

> this was low-key stupid and i wrote it in like,,, an hour but validate me anyway with like comments or something i don't know


End file.
